Audubon Louisiana wants more than $1.4 billion of the settlement money from BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill to be spent on restoration projects along the state's Gulf Coast.

Audubon Louisiana, the state office of the National Audubon Society, has identified four priority projects it says would protect birds and their habit as well as the lives and livelihoods of the state's residents.

They range from large ecosystem-wide projects to smaller bird-centric ones, said Erik Johnson, the director of bird conservation for Audubon Louisiana.

"We totally understand and see those connections so even though we're very much a bird conservation organization we recognize the importance of these habitats for people as well," Johnson said.

Wetlands help to protect the levees that protect the people who live in Louisiana while also providing habitats for birds, which is just one piece of a litany of benefits coastal restoration can provide, Johnson said.

Brown Pelican(Photo11: Linda Conroy/Audubon Photography Awards)

"A storm like Hurricane Katrina could have been even worse had there been fewer wetlands between New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico," Johnson said. "In addition to the protection, they of course provide all sorts of other kinds of ecosystem services that support our fishing and seafood industry."

The National Audubon Society does not have the final say on where the settlement money from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill will be directed. But they are making a case for their Louisiana projects:

The estimated $1.3 billion Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project would create, restore and enhance coastal wetlands along the west bank of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish.

The $32 million Chandeleur Island Restoration project would do the same thing on the islands in St. Bernard Parish.

That also is what the Freshwater Bayou North Marsh Creation project would do in the bayou in Vermilion Parish. That would cost nearly $28 million.

Birds like bald eagles and brown pelicans, the state bird, would benefit from these projects in Louisiana, Johnson said.

But the bird conservation organization is not only concerned with Louisiana’s coastline, but the entire Gulf Coast.

The National Audubon Society released a report Tuesday identifying 30 total priority projects, including 26 Gulf ones and four open-ocean projects, that they say would bolster coastal communities and protect bird habitat. The organization estimates the projects, including the four in Louisiana, would cost more than $1.7 billion to complete.

"I know it’s difficult to imagine here we are coming up on the 9-year oil spill anniversary, but things are really just getting started," said Kara Lankford, the director of Gulf Coast Restoration at the National Audubon Society.

"This is a 15-year payout from BP so the money isn’t in the coffers right now. They pay out money each year," Lankford said. "We’re in a marathon, not a sprint and this is a great strategy that Audubon has put forward with our partners and we’re just excited about it."